More than 20 trees were planted last week at Flowing Wells Junior High School to encourage more students and community members to enjoy the outdoors.
On Friday, students, school officials and volunteers planted 23 palo brea and blue palo verde trees near the athletic field at the school, 4545 N. La Cholla Blvd.
"It will make the campus a better place because there will be more trees and we will have a better environment," eighth-grader Amy Alonso said at the tree-planting event.
When full-grown the trees will provide ample shade for outdoor activities.
The junior high's athletic field, which features a running track and a football field, is open to the community.
There's no fence surrounding the field so the public can walk right in and use the outdoor facility seven days a week.
People are also reading…
Students also scattered wildflower seeds around the trees to give the native plants some company.
The trees are part of a larger project between the Flowing Wells School District and Communities Putting Prevention to Work, which was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pima County was one of about 40 communities from across the country to receive a grant to implement the Communities Putting Prevention to Work, or CPPW, initiative.
The initiative aims to prevent obesity by improving access to healthy eating and physical activity.
Flowing Wells received funding to plant the trees, which were provided by Trees for Tucson, and build an activity course through the trees.
The ENERGI System will be added to the campus in February, said Jennifer Reeves, a co-principal investigator for the CPPW's Schools Team.
The system will feature different exercise stations where people can engage in full-body workouts.
"It's going to be just fantastic," Reeves said.
Flowing Wells Junior High School was one of five Tucson-area schools to receive $17,000 to enhance their campuses in a way that promotes physical activity.
Doolen, Mansfeld, Challenger and Emily Gray middle schools also were awarded funding.
The Drachman Institute's Katie Gannon said a lack of shade sometimes keeps people away from the outdoors and physical activity.
"We feel shade is a really important part of physical activity," she said.
The Drachman Institute, which is an outreach program of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona, also partnered with Flowing Wells to plant trees at the junior high.
"In Flowing Wells, schools really are the heart of the community. They did this to really welcome the community into their facilities," Gannon said.
Students like what the trees have done for the campus.
They also enjoyed planting the trees themselves.
"You know you're doing something good for the environment and for future purposes because trees conserve air," eighth-grader Martio Harris said.
Martio's peer, Amy Alonso, knows the trees will come in handy when the weather starts to warm up and students are outdoors playing football and soccer.
"Sometimes we want to cool down because it's blistering in the sun and the trees will provide shade and keep us cool," Amy said.
Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at arivera@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
